Cabo pile on the misery
WEXFORD F.C. 0 CABINTEELY 3
CABINTEELY BEAT Wexford for the second time in five days as they put the under-par home side to bed in the SSE Airtricity League Under-17 Southern Elite Division on Saturday.
If the game on Tuesday night in the Mark Farren Memorial Cup was a close affair, this one was far from that as the Dublin side thumped the Wexford boys.
In truth, the opening half hour was evenly contested. Jem Campion looked most dangerous for the visitors, and he pulled a good save from Aaron Hall before firing over the crossbar in the 18th minute.
Wexford had opportunities at this early stage also. Seán Smithers couldn’t direct Shane Gibson’s cross towards goal while Darragh Levingston whipped a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.
As the clock ticked towards the half-time interval, it was clear Cabinteely were gaining the upper hand.
They made that momentum count as they found the net in both the 41st and 44th minutes to effectively put the game out of reach of the misfiring Wexford side.
Jack Savage scored the opener, placing into an empty net after Hall had previously done well to deny him, before David Baker finished into the bottom right corner after a long pass deceived Wexford’s defence.
The visitors coasted after the restart as Wexford struggled to find a reaction. Savage and Campion both pulled good saves from Hall before Dylan Birmingham’s shot from distance grazed the top of the crossbar.
Killian Flynn struck a tame shot at goal on his return from a long-term injury but Levingston went closest for the home side, poking Killian Griffin’s ball into the side-netting in the 82nd minute.
Cabinteely finished off their opponents with a ruthless counter-attack soon after. Levingston’s corner was cleared and the visitors broke quickly, with Vilius Labitus eventually heading home after Hall had once again saved the initial effort.
Baker almost added his second before the full-time whistle, rocketing a strike over the crossbar as Wexford’s defence came apart with ease.
Wexford will take a timely rest this coming weekend before travelling to Dublin to face U.C.D. in their next league game on August 12.
Wexford F.C.: Aaron Hall; Shane Gibson, Kyle Scallan, Dylan Whelan, Seán O’Brien-Murphy; Caellum Devlin-Travers, Luke Greene, Ethan O’Neill, Seán Smithers, Brody Murphy; Darragh Levingston (capt.). Subs. - Kevin Murphy for Whelan (52), Killian Griffin for Devlin-Travers (52), Killian Flynn for Gibson (65), Brian Byrne for Smithers (73), James Dowling for O’Brien-Murphy (73), also Seán Maher, Graham O’Reilly.
Cabinteely: Dylan Davis; Eoin Massey, Joe Hyland, David Murray, Mark Soper; Dylan Birmingham, Conor Knight, Vilius Labitus (capt.), Jack Savage, David Baker; Jem Campion. Subs. - Ross Carey for Murray (71), Jamie Dodd for Knight (80), also Cian McKenna, Daniel Lewins.